Environmental news from California and beyond

Half of California’s registered voters oppose new oil drilling off
the state’s coast, according to a new Los Angeles Times/USC poll.

That
marks a reversal from recent years, when voters increasingly favored
new drilling amidst sharp rises in the cost of gasoline.

About 50% of those surveyed opposed new drilling, while 43% supported it, according to the poll, which was conducted May 19-26.

The latest figures mark a return to Californians’ traditional
position on drilling in recent decades. In 2008 and 2009, as prices
rose at the pump, 51% of voters supported new drilling.

Geography played a role in voters’ attitudes toward seeking new
sources of oil offshore, with those who live closer to the state’s
beaches being more likely to oppose it. About 53% of residents of
coastal counties opposed new drilling while 52% of those who live
inland supported it.

The polling took place amid national headlines concerning the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.

The survey was conducted for The Times and the University of Southern
California’s College of Letters, Arts and Sciences by the Democratic
polling firm Greenberg Quinlan Rosner and the Republican firm American
Viewpoint. The margin of error for the survey in which 1,506 registered
voters were polled is plus or minus 2.6 percentage points for the
overall sample and slightly larger for smaller breakdowns.